NAME

INSTALL - Installation procedure for NetBSD/pmax

DESCRIPTION

About this Document

This document describes the installation procedure for NetBSD1.4.2 on the pmax platform. It is available in four different formats titled INSTALL.ext, where ext is one of .ps, .html, .more, or .txt.

.ps
PostScript.

.html
Standard internet HTML.

.more
The enhanced text format used on Unix-like systems by the more(1) and less(1) pager utility programs. This is the format in which the on-line man pages are generally presented.

.txt
Plain old ASCII.

You are reading the HTML version.

What is NetBSD?

The NetBSD Operating System is a fully functional Open Source UN*X-like operating system derived from the Berkeley Networking Release 2 (Net/2), 4.4BSD-Lite, and 4.4BSD-Lite2 sources. NetBSD runs on twenty different system architectures featuring eight distinct families of CPUs, and is being ported to more. The NetBSD1.4.2 release contains complete binary releases for fifteen different machine types. (The remaining ones are not fully supported at this time and are thus not part of the binary distribution. For information on them, please see the NetBSD web site at http://www.netbsd.org/)

NetBSD is a completely integrated system. In addition to its highly portable, high performance kernel, NetBSD features a complete set of user utilities, compilers for several languages, The X Window System, and numerous other tools, all accompanied by full source code.

NetBSD is a creation of the members of the Internet community. Without the unique cooperation and coordination the net makes possible, it's likely that NetBSD wouldn't exist.

Upgrade path to NetBSD 1.4.2

If you are not installing your system ``from scratch'' but instead are going to upgrade an existing system already running NetBSD you need to know which versions you can upgrade with NetBSD 1.4.2.

NetBSD 1.4.2 is an upgrade of NetBSD 1.4.1, NetBSD 1.4 and earlier releases of NetBSD such as versions 1.3.3, 1.2 etc.

The intermediate development versions of code available on the main trunk in our CVS repository (also known as ``NetBSD-current'') from after the point where the release cycle for 1.4 was started are designated by version identifiers such as 1.4A, 1.4B, 1.4P etc. These identifiers do not designate releases, but indicate major changes in internal kernel APIs. Note that the kernel from NetBSD 1.4.2 can not be used to upgrade a system running one of those intermediate development versions. Trying to use the NetBSD1.4.2 kernel on such a system will in all probability result in problems.

Please also note that it is not possible to do a direct ``version'' comparison between any of the intermediate development versions mentioned above and 1.4.2 to determine if a given feature is present or absent in 1.4.2. The development of 1.4, 1.4.1 and 1.4.2 is done on a separate branch in the CVS repository which was created when the release cylcle for 1.4 was started, and during the release cycles for all these versions selective fixes (with minor impact on the stability of the code on the release branch) have been imported from the main development trunk. So, there are features in 1.4.2 which were not in e.g. 1.4H, but the reverse is also true.

Major Changes Between 1.4.1 and 1.4.2

The complete list of changes between NetBSD 1.4.1 and 1.4.2 can be found in the file CHANGES-1.4.2 in the top directory of the source tree. The following are the highlights only.

  • A driver for the Alteon Gigabit Ethernet cards has been added, see ti(4).

  • A driver for the Realtek 8129/8239 Fast Ethernet PCI cards have been added, see rl(4).

  • A driver for the DPT SmartCache and SmartRAID III or IV SCSI adapters has been added, see dpt(4).

  • A driver for the BOCA IOAT66 6-port ISA serial adapter has been added, see ioat(4).

  • Support for the X-surf Amiga board has been added.

  • Support has been added for ext2fs revision 1, with read-only support for the ``sparse super'' and the ``filetype'' options.

  • BIND has been upgraded to version 8.2.2-P5.

  • The IPF packet filtering software has been updated to version 3.3.5.

  • Tcpdump now does hex/ascii dumps of packet contents if asked to do so.

  • An implementation of the System V user management utilities has been added.

  • The name ``errno'' is now always a macro which expands to a function call. This is done to ease the integration of thread libraries with the code in both system and third-party libraries. Please include <errno.h> to access the correct definition of ``errno''.

  • A utility for making temporary files for shell scripts has been added, see mktemp(1).

  • The automounter utility amd(8) has been updated to fix a security problem.

  • A security problem in procfs has been fixed. Procfs is not used by default in NetBSD.

  • The floating point emulation on the ports using the m68k CPU has been reverted to the version in NetBSD 1.4 (the version in 1.4.1 had problems).

  • Several subsystems have received substantial work, such as RAIDframe, LFS, and the package tools.

In addition, many, many bugs have been fixed -- more than 100 problems reported through our problem tracking system have been fixed, and many other non-reported problems have also been found and fixed. See the CHANGES-1.4.2 file for the complete list.

Known caveats with 1.4.2

The following are the major known issues with NetBSD 1.4.2.

  • The upgrade of ipf(8) caused a change of the kernel API. Thus, if you are using ipf(8) you need to upgrade both the kernel and the user-land utilities to control that feature in order for it to work.

  • As part of fixing a kernel bug, ``struct vfsnode'' needed to change size. This will unfortunately, and contrary to tradition for patch releases, cause incompatibilities for users of file system LKMs compiled for 1.4 and 1.4.1.

  • Although LFS has been improved between 1.4.1 and 1.4.2, it can probably still be characterized as being of ``beta test'' quality, e.g. filling the file system still gives ``interesting'' effects. It should probably not be used to store critical data quite yet.

  • The version of the IPF packet filtering software in NetBSD 1.4.2 must be enabled with ``ipf -E'' before filtering or NAT rules can be set. Failure to do so may result in a panic.

Major Changes Between 1.4 and 1.4.1

The complete list of changes between NetBSD 1.4 and 1.4.1 can be found in the file CHANGES-1.4.1 in the top directory of the source tree.

  • The NetBSD/alpha port's compatibility for Digital UNIX executables has been greatly improved.

  • Many bug fixes and improvements of the installation tools and utilities.

  • Support for more PCI serial/parallel cards has been added.

  • It is now possible to boot NetBSD/i386 on systems with 1GB of RAM.

  • The floating point emulation on the ports using the m68k CPU has been upgraded.

  • A fatal problem with /dev/random has been found and fixed.

  • Support for Alpha 21264 ev6 based systems has been added to NetBSD/alpha.

Major Changes Between 1.3 and 1.4

The NetBSD1.4 release is a substantial improvement over its predecessors. We have provided numerous significant functional enhancements, including support for many new devices, integration of hundreds of bug fixes, new and updated kernel subsystems, and many userland enhancements. The results of these improvements is a stable operating system fit for production use that rivals most commercially available systems.

It is impossible to completely summarize the nearly two years of development that went into the NetBSD1.4 release. Some highlights include:

  • Substantial improvements in the TCP/IP implementation, including numerous performance enhancements and bug fixes by Jason Thorpe and others.

  • A new, high efficiency kernel memory pool allocator by Paul Kranenburg. This has been integrated into most kernel subsystems.

  • A new, totally rewritten virtual memory subsystem, UVM, created by Chuck Cranor, which is substantially cleaner and better performing than the old Mach derived VM subsystem.

  • Improved POSIX and XPG standards compliance.

  • Completion of the integration of all remaining 4.4BSD Lite-2 kernel improvements and bug fixes that had not been previously integrated. (Integration of all userland components was completed before NetBSD1.3)

  • Several new ports, including macppc, bebox, sparc64, next68k, and others, have been integrated into the source tree.

  • The system compilers have been upgraded to egcs 1.1.1, and the system compiler toolchain now (mostly) uses the latest versions of GNU binutils instead of the obsolete versions left over from 4.4BSD Lite.

  • Everyone's favorite ftp(1) client has been improved even further. See the man page for details.

  • A new architecture independent console driver, wscons(4), has been integrated into many ports.

  • Numerous improvements have been made to the audio subsystem support, including support for MIDI device drivers.

  • Linux compatibility support has been improved.

  • A number of scheduler enhancements have yielded dramatic improvements in interactive performance and better control of background tasks.

  • Several network tunneling protocols, including GRE and IP in IP, have been implemented.

  • Kernel support for the CODA distributed file system has been added.

  • Manuel Bouyer completed major changes to the IDE support. It is now architecture independent. Major changes have been made to the IDE code for better error handling, improved ATAPI support, 32 bit data I/O support and bus-master DMA support on PCI IDE controllers.

  • Lennart Augustsson has added full USB support, permitting the use of a wide variety of Universal Serial Bus peripherals. The drivers should easily port to any future platforms that support the PCI bus. See usb(4) for an overview.

  • RAIDframe, version 1.1, from the Parallel Data Laboratory at Carnegie Mellon University, has been integrated. Supports RAID levels 0, 1, 4, 5, and more.

  • Luke Mewburn added nsswitch.conf(5) functionality to the system to specify the search order for system databases.

  • syslogd(8) now supports listening on multiple sockets, to make the chrooting of servers easier.

  • Most third party packages have been updated to the latest stable release.

As has been noted, there have also been innumerable bug fixes.

Kernel interfaces have continued to be refined, and more subsystems and device drivers are shared among the different ports. You can look for this trend to continue.

This is the fourth public major release of NetBSD for the DECstation and DECsystem family of computers. Significantly, this is the first release for the pmax that builds completely from in-tree source code. Some other pmax-specific changes from the 1.3 release include:

  • A much easier-to-use ramdisk-based install procedure.

  • New two-stage disk bootblocks that can load a.out, ECOFF and ELF kernels.

  • a.out kernels are no longer built. ELF is the preferred format for kernels loaded off disk, and ECOFF kernels are still required for netbooting. a.out kernels will still boot.

  • Better support for SFB graphics cards running at different resolutions.

  • NetBSD/pmax now uses the X11R6 Xserver.

  • Mouse problems in X on 5000/xx machines have been significantly reduced.

  • Some improvements in the SCSI driver for the 5000/200 (although some problems are still thought to exist).

  • scc serial driver will work up to 115.2k bps on some systems.

  • Reworked model-dependent code, including support for 5100 (but not recently tested on this machine).

  • Crash dumps now work.

  • Switched to in-tree ld.elf_so.

  • Breakpoints in gdb work more reliably for R3000 systems (although there still may be some problems with R4X00 systems).

The Future of NetBSD

The NetBSD Foundation has been incorporated as a non-profit organization. Its purpose is to encourage, foster and promote the free exchange of computer software, namely the NetBSD Operating System. The foundation will allow for many things to be handled more smoothly than could be done with our previous informal organization. In particular, it provides the framework to deal with other parties that wish to become involved in the NetBSD Project.

The NetBSD Foundation will help improve the quality of NetBSD by:

  • providing better organization to keep track of development efforts, including co-ordination with groups working in related fields.

  • providing a framework to receive donations of goods and services and to own the resources necessary to run the NetBSD Project.

  • providing a better position from which to undertake promotional activities.

  • periodically organizing workshops for developers and other interested people to discuss ongoing work.

We intend to begin narrowing the time delay between releases. Our ambition is to provide a full release every six to eight months.

We hope to support even more hardware in the future, and we have a rather large number of other ideas about what can be done to improve NetBSD.

We intend to continue our current practice of making the NetBSD-current development source available on a daily basis. In addition, Anonymous CVS access to the NetBSD source tree has been added since NetBSD 1.4.1; see http://www.netbsd.org/Changes/#anoncvs-available We have also added a browsable CVS repository on the web at http://cvsweb.netbsd.org/cgi-bin/cvsweb.cgi/

We intend to integrate free, positive changes from whatever sources submit them, providing that they are well thought-out and increase the usability of the system.

Above all, we hope to create a stable and accessible system, and to be responsive to the needs and desires of NetBSD users, because it is for and because of them that NetBSD exists.

Sources of NetBSD

Please refer to http://www.netbsd.org/Sites/net.html.

NetBSD 1.4.2 Release Contents

The root directory of the NetBSD1.4.2 release is organized as follows:

.../NetBSD-1.4.2/

BUGS
Known bugs list (somewhat incomplete and out of date).

CHANGES
Changes since earlier NetBSD releases.

LAST_MINUTE
Last minute changes.

MIRRORS
A list of sites that mirror the NetBSD1.4.2 distribution.

README.files
README describing the distribution's contents.

TODO
NetBSD's todo list (also somewhat incomplete and out of date).

patches/
Post-release source code patches.

source/
Source distribution sets; see below.

In addition to the files and directories listed above, there is one directory per architecture, for each of the architectures for which NetBSD1.4.2 has a binary distribution. There are also 'README.export-control' files sprinkled liberally throughout the distribution tree, which point out that there are some portions of the distribution (i.e. the `domestic' portion) that may be subject to export regulations of the United States. It is your responsibility to determine whether or not it is legal for you to export these portions and to act accordingly. The NetBSD project maintains a web page at

http://www.NetBSD.ORG/Misc/crypto-export.html

which should contain up-to-date information on this issue.

The source distribution sets can be found in subdirectories of the "source" subdirectory of the distribution tree. They contain the complete sources to the system. The source distribution sets are as follows:

secrsrc.tgz:
This set contains the "domestic" sources. These sources may be subject to United States export regulations.
421K gzipped, 2M uncompressed

gnusrc.tgz:
This set contains the "gnu" sources, including the source for the compiler, assembler, groff, and the other GNU utilities in the binary distribution sets.
19M gzipped, 84.3M uncompressed

syssrc.tgz:
This set contains the sources to the NetBSD1.4.2 kernel, config(8), and dbsym(8).
13.9M gzipped, 68.3M uncompressed

sharesrc.tgz:
This set contains the "share" sources, which include the sources for the man pages not associated with any particular program, the sources for the typesettable document set, the dictionaries, and more.
3M gzipped, 11.9M uncompressed

src.tgz:
This set contains all of the NetBSD1.4.2 sources which are not mentioned above.
14.4M gzipped, 67.4M uncompressed

Most of the above source sets are located in the source/sets subdirectory of the distribution tree. The secrsrc.tgz set is contained in the source/security subdirectory. This set, which may only be available to users in the United States and Canada, contains the sources normally found in /usr/src/domestic - primarily Kerberos and other cryptographic security related software. (Remember, because of United States law, it may not be legal to distribute this set to locations outside of the United States and Canada. Again, see http://www.NetBSD.ORG/Misc/crypto-export.html for updated information on this issue.)

The source sets are distributed as compressed tar files. They may be unpacked into /usr/src with the command:
       cat set_name.tgz | gunzip | (cd /; tar xpf - )
The sets/Split/ and security/Split/ subdirectories contain split versions of the source sets for those users who need to load the source sets from floppy or otherwise need a split distribution. The split sets are are named "set_name.xx" where "set_name" is the distribution set name, and "xx" is the sequence number of the file, starting with "aa" for the first file in the distribution set, then "ab" for the next, and so on. All of these files except the last one of each set should be exactly 240,640 bytes long. (The last file is just long enough to contain the remainder of the data for that distribution set.)

The split distributions may be reassembled and extracted with cat as follows:
       cat set_name.?? | gunzip | (cd /; tar xpf - )

In each of the source distribution set directories, there is a file named CKSUMS which contains the checksums of the files in that directory, as generated by the cksum(1) utility. You can use cksum to check the integrity of the archives, if you suspect that one of the files is corrupt and have access to a cksum binary. Checksums based on other algorithms may also be present - see the release(7) man page for details.

NetBSD/pmax Subdirectory Structure
The pmax-specific portion of the NetBSD1.4.2 release is found in the pmax subdirectory of the distribution: .../NetBSD-1.4.2/pmax/
INSTALL.html
INSTALL.ps
INSTALL.txt
INSTALL.more
Installation notes; this file. The .more file contains underlined text using the more(1) conventions for indicating italic and bold display.
binary/
sets/
pmax binary distribution sets; see below.
kernel/
pmax installation kernels.
security/
pmax security distribution; see below.
installation/
diskimage/
pmax miniroot file system image; see below.
misc/
New bootblocks necessary for booting non a.out kernels.
netboot/
Server tar file for diskless machines.
Binary Distribution Sets
The NetBSD pmax binary distribution sets contain the binaries which comprise the NetBSD1.4.2 release for the pmax. There are eight binary distribution sets and the security distribution set. The binary distribution sets can be found in the pmax/binary/sets subdirectory of the NetBSD1.4.2 distribution tree, and are as follows:

base
The NetBSD1.4.2 pmax base binary distribution. You must install this distribution set. It contains the base NetBSD utilities that are necessary for the system to run and be minimally functional. It includes shared library support, and excludes everything described below.
13.2M gzipped, 41.8M uncompressed

comp
Things needed for compiling programs. This set includes the system include files (/usr/include) and the various system libraries (except the shared libraries, which are included as part of the base set). This set also includes the manual pages for all of the utilities it contains, as well as the system call and library manual pages.
11.6M gzipped, 49.4M uncompressed

etc
This distribution set contains the system configuration files that reside in /etc and in several other places. This set must be installed if you are installing the system from scratch, but should not be used if you are upgrading. (If you are upgrading, it's recommended that you get a copy of this set and carefully upgrade your configuration files by hand.)
59K gzipped, 380K uncompressed

games
This set includes the games and their manual pages.
2.9M gzipped, 7.7M uncompressed

kern
This set contains a NetBSD/pmax 1.4.2 GENERIC kernel, named /netbsd. You must install this distribution set.
817k gzipped, 2.1M uncompressed

man
This set includes all of the manual pages for the binaries and other software contained in the base set. Note that it does not include any of the manual pages that are included in the other sets.
4.1M gzipped, 16.4M uncompressed

misc
This set includes the (rather large) system dictionaries, the typesettable document set, and other files from /usr/share.
2.2M gzipped, 8.5M uncompressed

text
This set includes NetBSD's text processing tools, including groff(1), all related programs, and their manual pages.
1.3M gzipped, 5.1M uncompressed

The pmax security distribution set is named secr and can be found in the
       pmax/binary/security
subdirectory of the NetBSD1.4.2 distribution tree. It contains security-related binaries which depend on cryptographic source code. You do not need this distribution set to use encrypted passwords in your password file; the base distribution includes a crypt library which can perform only the one-way encryption function. The security distribution includes a version of the Kerberos IV network security system, and a Kerberized version of telnet(1) program. The secr distribution set can be found only on those sites which carry the complete NetBSD distribution and which can legally obtain it. Because of United States law, it may not be legal to distribute this set to locations outside of the United States and Canada. See http://www.NetBSD.ORG/Misc/crypto-export.html for updated information on this issue.
1M gzipped, 4.2M uncompressed

NetBSD maintains its own set of sources for the X Window System in order to assure tight integration and compatibility. These sources are based on XFree86, and tightly track XFree86 releases. They are currently equivalent to XFree86 3.3.6. Binary sets for the X Window system are distributed with NetBSD. The sets are:

xbase
The basic files needed for a complete X client environment. This does not include the X servers.
3.1M gzipped, 11M uncompressed

xcomp
The extra libraries and include files needed to compile X source code.
2.1M gzipped, 9.8M uncompressed

xcontrib
Programs that were contributed to X.
207k gzipped, 770k uncompressed

xfont
Fonts needed by X.
5.5M gzipped, 6.7M uncompressed

xserver
The Xpmax server with man page. 1.8M gzipped, 5.6M uncompressed

The pmax binary distribution sets are distributed as gzipped tar files named with the extension .tgz, e.g. base.tgz.

The instructions given for extracting the source sets work equally well for the binary sets, but it is worth noting that if you use that method, the files are /-relative and therefore are extracted below the current directory. That is, if you want to extract the binaries into your system, i.e. replace the system binaries with them, you have to run the tar xfp command from /.

Note
Each directory in the pmax binary distribution also has its own checksum files, just as the source distribution does:

All BSDSUM files are historic BSD checksums for the various files in that directory, in the format produced by the command: cksum -o 1 file

All CKSUM files are POSIX checksums for the various files in that directory, in the format produced by the command: cksum file.

All MD5 files are MD5 digests for the various files in that directory, in the format produced by the command: cksum -m file.

All SYSVSUM files are historic AT&T System V UNIX checksums for the various files in that directory, in the format produced by the command: cksum -o -2 file.

The MD5 digest is the safest checksum, followed by the POSIX checksum. The other two checksums are provided only to ensure that the widest possible range of system can check the integrity of the release files.


NetBSD/pmax System Requirements and Supported Devices

NetBSD/pmax 1.4.2 runs on the following classes of machines:

  • DECstation 2100 and 3100, also known as pmin and pmax
  • Personal DECstations (5000/20, /25 and /33) also known as MAXINE
  • DECstation 5000/120, /125, and /133, also known as 3MIN
  • DECstation 5000/200, also known as 3MAX
  • DECstation 5000/240 and DECsystem 5900, also known as 3MAXPLUS
  • DECstation 5000/50, 5000/150, 5000/260 (and DECsystem 5900-260) - R4000 and R4400 variants of the the MAXINE, 3MIN and 3MAXPLUS

NetBSD/pmax 1.4.2 does not (yet) run on these machines:

  • DECsystem 5100 (an r3000-based cousin of the DECstation 3100)
  • DECsystem 5400 and 5500 (Qbus-based systems, similar to the Vax Mayfair or Mayfair II, but with an r2000a or r3000 cpu instead of a CVAX cpu.)
  • DECsystem 5800 (xbi-based multiprocessor, a Vax 6200 with Vax CPU boards replaced with Mips cpu boards)

The minimal configuration requires 8M of RAM and ~60M of disk space. To install the entire system requires much more disk space, and to run X or compile the system, more RAM is recommended. (NetBSD with 8M of RAM feels like Ultrix with 8M of RAM.) Note that until you have around 16M of RAM, getting more RAM is more important than getting a faster CPU.

Supported devices include:

  • DECstation 2100 and 3100 baseboard video
    - one-bit mono or 8-bit pseudocolour frame buffers.
  • DECstation 5000 series TurboChannel video
    - PMAG-DV Personal DECstation baseboard 1024x768 frame buffer
    - PMAG-BA 1024x768 8-bit colour frame buffer
    - PMAGB-BA 1024x768 8-bit colour frame buffer
    - PMAG-AA 1280x1024 four-bit greyscale frame buffer

    Note
    All supported DECstation video produces sync-on-green. Be sure to use either a DEC-compatible fixed-sync monitor or a multisync monitor that supports sync-on-green.
  • serial ports:
    - ttya and ttyb (can be used as console if needed)
  • ethernet:
    - on-board AMD Lance ethernet ((le0)),
    - TURBOchannel AMD Lance ethernet cards (the PMAD)
  • SCSI:
    - on-board DEC sii SCSI controller (2100 and 3100)
    - on-board asc SCSI controller (5000 series machines)
    - TurboChannel asc SCSI controller (the PMAZ)
  • DEC (LK-201 or compatible) keyboard
  • DEC hockey puck or compatible mouse

Hardware the we do not currently support, but get questions about from time to time:

  • Q-bus DECsystem machines
  • DECsystem 5100 machines
  • PrestoServe NVRAM on DECsystem 5100 and 5000/2xx machines
  • audio drivers for Personal DECstation machines
  • floppy driver for Personal DECstation machines
  • TurboChannel audio hardware (LoFi)
  • PMAG-C 2-D (PX) and other accelerated framebuffers (PXG, PXG+ and PXG+ Turbo) with onboard i860 processors

Note
the primary obstacle to support of all but the very last item is non-availability of sample hardware for development.

The primary obstacle for the i860-based framebuffers is that there is no documentation on the accelerator board. There is support for the PX and PXG framebuffers in NetBSD-current after NetBSD 1.4.


Getting the NetBSD System on to Useful Media

First-time installation on a bare machine is not supported, because most DECstations do not have any suitable load device. Some versions of DECstation PROMs are buggy and will not boot via TFTP and bootp; still other versions are buggy and do not boot via MOP.

The only DECstation with a floppy-disk drive is the Personal DECstation, and that device is not supported as a boot device.

The recommended installation procedure is to boot an install kernel via TFTP, or to use a ``helper'' system to write a miniroot diskimage onto a disk, move that disk to the target installation system, and then boot the miniroot.

Installation is supported from several media types, including:

  • NFS partitions
  • FTP
  • Tape
  • CD-ROM

The steps necessary to prepare the distribution sets for installation depend on which installation medium you choose. The steps for the various media are outlined below.

NFS Installation
Place the NetBSD distribution sets you wish to install into a directory on an NFS server, and make that directory mountable by the machine on which you are installing or upgrading NetBSD. This will probably require modifying the /etc/exports file on of the NFS server and resetting its mount daemon (mountd). Both of these actions will probably require superuser privileges on the server.

You will need to know the IP address of your nameserver or of your NFS server, and, if the server is not on a network directly connected to the machine on which you're installing or upgrading NetBSD, you need to know the IP address of the closest router . Finally, you need to know the IP address of the NetBSD machine itself. The install program will ask you to provide this information to be able to access the sets via NFS.

If you are using a diskless setup to install NetBSD on your machine, you can take advantage of the fact that the above has already been done on your machine's server. So, you can conveniently put the NetBSD file sets in your machine's root filesystem on the server where the install program can find them.

Once the NFS server is set up properly and you have the information mentioned above, you can start the actual installation process.

FTP Installation
Determine an FTP site from which you can retrieve the NetBSD distribution when you're about to install. You will need to know the IP address of your nameserver or of your ftp site, and, if it's not on a network directly connected to the machine on which you're installing or upgrading NetBSD, you need to know the IP address of the closest router. Finally, you need to know the IP address of the NetBSD machine itself. The install program will ask you to provide this information to be able to access the sets via ftp.

Once you have this information, you can proceed to the actual installation.

Tape Installation
To install NetBSD from a tape, you need to somehow get the NetBSD filesets you wish to install on your system on to the appropriate kind of tape, in tar format.

Note
the tape devices with which NetBSD/pmax is believed to work is the DEC TK-50. This is a very slow device. Installation via disk or network is recommended if at all possible.

If you're making the tape on a UN*X system, the easiest way to do so is:        tar cvf tape_device files
where tape_device is the name of the tape device that describes the tape drive you're using (possibly something like /dev/nrst0, but we make no guarantees 8-). Under SunOS 5.x, this would be something like /dev/rmt/0mbn. Again, your mileage may vary. If you can't figure it out, ask your system administrator. files are the names of the set_name.nnn files which you want to be placed on the tape.

Once you have done this, you can proceed to the next step in the installation process, preparing your system for NetBSD installation.

CD-ROM Installation
If you are installing from a CD-ROM, the distribution sets are already in the proper format and no special handling is required.

Preparing your System for NetBSD Installation

First and foremost, before beginning the installation process, make sure you have a reliable backup of any data on your hard disk that you wish to keep. Mistakes in partitioning your hard disk may lead to data loss.

Installing the NetBSD System

Note
There may be updates to this procedure available from the NetBSD/pmax web page, at http://www.netbsd.org/Ports/pmax.

To install or upgrade NetBSD, you need to first boot an installation program and then interact with the screen-menu program sysinst. The installation program actually consists of the NetBSD kernel plus an in-memory file system of utility programs.

From most convenient to least convenient, the installation methods are:

  1. Installation from an existing NetBSD or Ultrix system by booting the install kernel from an existing root filesystem. See the Installing from an existing system section later in these INSTALL notes.

  2. Copying a bootable diskimage onto the beginning of a disk and installing onto that disk. See the Install via diskimage section later in these INSTALL notes.

  3. Booting the install kernel over the network and installing onto a local disk. See the Install via netboot install kernel section later in these INSTALL notes.

  4. Using a helper machine with a SCSI controller to copy the bootable diskimage onto the beginning of a disk, and moving the disk to the target machine. See the Install via diskimage section later in these INSTALL notes.

  5. For machines with some PROMs that cannot netboot standard kernels, you will need to set up an NFS server with a diskless root filesystem for trimmed-down network install kernel and run the installation system from the NFS root filesystem. See the Install via diskless boot section later in these INSTALL notes.

You should familiarize yourself with the console PROM environment and the hardware configuration. The PROMs on the older DECstation 2100 and 3100 use one syntax. The PROMs on the TurboChannel machines use a completely different syntax. Be sure you know how to print the configuration of your machine, and how to boot from disk or network, as appropriate.

On the 2100/3100, that's

boot -f rz(0,N,0)netbsd (boot from rzN)
boot -f tftp()          (boot diskless via TFTP)
boot -f mop()           (boot via MOP from an Ultrix server)
On the 5000/200, the equivalent is
boot 5/rzN/netbsd
boot 6/tftp
boot 6/mop
And on other 5000 series machines,
boot 3/rzN/netbsd
boot 3/tftp
boot 3/mop
You will also need to know the total size (in sectors) and the approximate geometry of the disks you are installing onto, so that you can label your disks for the BSD fast filesystem (FFS). For most SCSI drives (including all SCSI-2 drives), the kernel will correctly detect the disk geometry. The sysinst tool will suggest these as the default.

If you're installing NetBSD/pmax for the first time it's a very good idea to pre-plan partition sizes for the disks on which you're installing NetBSD. Changing the size of partitions after you've installed is difficult. If you do not have a spare bootable disk, it may be simpler to re-install NetBSD again from scratch.

Assuming a classic partition scheme with separate root (`/') and /usr filesystems, a comfortable size for the NetBSD root filesystem partition is about 32M. A good initial size for the swap partition is twice the amount of physical memory in your machine (though, unlike Ultrix, there are no restrictions on the size of the swap partition that would render part of your memory unusable). The default swap size is 64Mbytes, which is adequate for doing a full system build. A full binary installation, with X11R6.3, takes about 150MB in `/usr' - a 200MB `/usr' should be ample.

Install via a NetBSD CDROM
You can obtain the disk image or diskless boot tar file from the NetBSD1.4.2 CDROM.

To mount the CDROM from a NetBSD/pmax host, type
       mount -r -t cd9660 /dev/rzXc /mnt
and from an Ultrix host
       mount -r -t cdfs -o nodefperm,noversion /dev/rzXc /mnt
where X is the SCSI id of the CDROM.

Note
Ultrix does not have Rock Ridge extensions so leave out everything between the first and last period (.) in the paths on the CD. For example, the path NetBSD-1.3.2 would show up as NetBSD-1.2.

The diskimage file can be found on the CDROM at the following location (relative to the mount point of the CD)
       pmax/installation/diskimage/diskimage.gz
and the diskless boot tar file can be found at
       pmax/installation/netboot/diskimage.tgz
Once you have located these files, continue on to either Install via netboot install kernel, Install via diskless boot, Install via diskimage or Installing from an existing system section later in the INSTALL notes.

Installing from an existing system

Note
If you are installing NetBSD using an existing NetBSD system that is older than NetBSD-1.4, you will need to install new bootblocks before installing NetBSD-1.4.2. New bootblocks are in the tar file:
       pmax/installation/misc/bootblocks.tgz
in the NetBSD-1.4.2 distribution. To install the new bootblocks, use the following commands:
       # cd /
       # tar xvpfz .../pmax/installation/misc/bootblocks.tgz
       # disklabel -B rzX
where X is your boot disk SCSI ID.

With new NetBSD bootblocks or using the Ultrix bootloader, you can boot the kernel located in:
       pmax/binary/kernel/install.gz
On Ultrix systems you will need to gunzip this kernel before booting it. A copy of the gunzip binary for Ultrix systems is located in:
       pmax/installation/misc/gunzip.ultrix

Then boot using:
       >> boot -f rz(0,X,0)install
       >> boot 5/rzX/install
or
       >> boot 3/rzX/install
where X is your boot disk SCSI ID, and continue to the Once you've booted the diskimage section

Install via diskimage
The diskimage file is in
       pmax/installation/diskimage/diskimage.gz.
It is shipped compressed and is around 1150 kbytes, uncompressing to exactly 2 Mbytes.

To install the diskimage onto disk rzX on a NetBSD/pmax system, do:
       disklabel -W /dev/rrzXc
       gunzip -c diskimage.gz | dd of=/dev/rrzXc bs=10240

When installing on a disk with no NetBSD or Ultrix label, you may get a message like:
       rzX: WARNING: trying Ultrix label, no disk label
or when installing on an old Ultrix disk, you may get a message like:
       rzX: WARNING: using ULTRIX partition information
when issuing the "disklabel -W /dev/rrzXc" command. This can safely be ignored.

Most other NetBSD ports are similar, but use rsdXc instead of rrzXc.

On NetBSD/i386, the `raw disk partition' is the 'd' parttion, so do:
       disklabel -W /dev/rsdXd
       gunzip -c diskimage.gz | dd of=/dev/rsdXd bs=10240

On NetBSD, be sure to use disklabel -W to enable writing to the label area of the disk. If you forget this and/or use the `block' device, the dd command may silently fail.

On Ultrix systems, do:
       gunzip -c diskimage.gz | dd of=/dev/rrzXc bs=10240
A copy of the gunzip program is located in
       pmax/installation/misc/gunzip.ultrix
if you do not already have it.

On MS-DOS, use an unzip utlility, then use rawrite.

Then boot using:
       >> boot -f rz(0,X,0)netbsd
       >> boot 5/rzX/netbsd
or
       >> boot 3/rzX/netbsd
where X is your boot disk SCSI ID, and continue to the Once you've booted the diskimage section.

Install via netboot install kernel
Booting NetBSD/pmax 1.4.2 install kernel over a network requires a BOOTP or DHCP server and a TFTP server. (These are usually all run on the same machine.) There are two basic stages to the boot:

  • The pmax PROM software sends a BOOTP request to get its own address, the address of the TFTP server and the file to download.

  • It downloads the file name obtained from BOOTP, which is the install kernel, via TFTP and then executes it.

You will need to set up servers for BOOTP and TFTP.

For the BOOTP server you need to specify the:

  • hardware type (Ethernet)
  • hardware address (Ethernet MAC address)
  • IP address of the client
  • subnet mask of the client
  • address of the TFTP server
  • name of the kernel loaded via TFTP

Here's an example for a Unix system running bootpd:

myhost.mydom.com:\
      :ht=ethernet:ha=08002b123456:\
      :ip=192.168.1.2:sm=255.255.255.0:\
      :sa=192.168.1.1:bf=install:\
      :rp=/usr/export/pmax:
And here's an example for a Unix system running the ISC dhcpd:
host pmax {
     hardware ethernet 08:0:2b:12:34:56;
     fixed-address 192.168.1.2;
     option host-name "myhost.mydom.com";
     filename "install";
     option domain-name-servers 192.168.1.1;
     option broadcast-address 255.255.255.0;
     option domain-name "my.domain";
     option root-path "/usr/export/pmax";
}

For the TFTP server, You will need to copy the install.ecoff kernel to the directory used by the TFTP server. This file must be gunziped.

Then boot using:
       >> boot -f tftp()
       >> boot 6/tftp
or
       >> boot 3/tftp

and continue to the Once you've booted the diskimage section.

Install via diskless boot
The file
       pmax/installation/netboot/diskimage.tar.gz
contains a suitable set of files for installing on an NFS server to set up a diskless root filesytem. (It is a tar copy of the contents of an installation ramdisk filesystem contained in the install kernel.) You will need to find an NFS server, unpack the tarfile, and setup BOOTP/dhcp service for your pmax. Instructions for setting up an NFS server and diskless booting are on the NetBSD/pmax netboot webpage at http://www.netbsd.org/Ports/pmax/netboot.html

Since the system install utility, sysinst, requires a read/write root, installing via diskless boot is only feasible if your NFS server exports the diskless root read-write. If this is not possible, you should install via other of the other installation procedures.

Once you have booted the kernel, continue to the Once you've booted the diskimage section.

Once you've booted the diskimage
Once you'e booted the installation kernel you will need to select your terminal type. Use pmax for a framebuffer console, vt100 for a serial console with a vt100-compatible terminal, or xterm or xterms for a tip(1) or cu(1) connection running in an xterm(1).

The system will then start the sysinst program.

Running the Sysinst Installation Program

  1. Introduction

    Using sysinst, installing NetBSD is a relatively easy process. You still should read this document and have it in hand when doing the installation process. This document tries to be a good guideline for the installation and as such covers many details to be completed. Do not let this discourage you, the install program is not hard to use.

  2. General

    The following is a walk-through of the steps you will take while getting NetBSD installed on your hard disk. sysinst is a menu driven installation system that allows for some freedom in doing the installation. Sometimes, questions will be asked and in many cases the default answer will be displayed in brackets (``[ ]'') after the question. If you wish to stop the installation, you may hit Control-C at any time, but if you do, you'll have to begin the installation process again from scratch.

  3. Quick install

    First, let's describe a quick install. The other sections of this document go into the installation procedure in more detail, but you may find that you do not need this. If you want detailed instructions, skip to section 3. This section describes a basic installation, using a CD-ROM install as an example.


    • What you need.

      - The distribution sets (in this example, they are on CD).

      - A CD-ROM drive (SCSI or ATAPI), a harddisk and a minimum of 8Mb of memory installed.

      - The harddisk should have at least 200 + n megabytes of space free, where n is the number of megabytes of main memory in your system. If you wish to install the X window system as well, you will need at least 60Mb more.

    • The Quick Installation

      - Boot the system as desribed in the previous section. You should be at the sysinst main menu.

      - If you wish, you can configure some network settings immediately by choosing the utilities menu and then configure network. It isn't actually required at this point, but it may be more convenient. Go back to the main menu.

      - Choose install

      - You will be guided through some steps regarding the setup of your disk, and the selection of distributed components to install. When in doubt, refer to the rest of this document for details.

      - After your disk has been prepared, choose CD-ROM as the medium. The default values for the path and device should be ok.

      - After all the files have been unpacked, go back to the main menu and select reboot, after you have removed the bootfloppy from the drive.

      - NetBSD will now boot. You should log in as root, and set a password for that account. You are also advised to edit the file /etc/rc.conf to match your system needs.

      - Your installation is now complete.

      - For configuring the X window system, if installed, see the files in        /usr/X11R6/lib/X11/doc.
      Further information can be found on http://www.xfree86.org/

  4. Booting NetBSD

    Boot the system as desribed in the previous section.

    Once NetBSD has booted and printed all the boot messages, you will be presented with a welcome message and a main menu. It will also include instructions for using the menus.

  5. Network configuration

    If you will not use network operation during the installation, but you do want your machine to be configured for networking once it is installed, you should first go to the utilities menu, and select Configure network option. If you only want to temporarily use networking during the installation, you can specify these parameters later. If you are not using Domain Name Service (DNS), you can give an empty response in reply to answers relating to this.

  6. Installation drive selection and parameters

    To start the installation, select the menu option to install NetBSD from the main menu.

    The first thing is to identify the disk on which you want to install NetBSD. sysinst will report a list of disks it finds and ask you for your selection. Depending on how many disks are found, you may get a different message. You should see disk names like rz0 or rz1

  7. Partitioning the disk.

    • Which portion of the disk to use.

      You will be asked if you want to use the entire disk or only part of the disk. If you decide to use the entire disk for NetBSD, it will be checked if there are already other systems present on the disk, and you will be asked to confirm whether you want to overwrite these.

      If you want to use the entire disk for NetBSD, you can skip the following section and go to Editing the NetBSD disklabel.

    • Editing the NetBSD disklabel.

      The partition table of the NetBSD part of a disk is called a disklabel. There are 3 layouts for the NetBSD part of the disk that you can pick from: Standard, Standard with X and Custom. The first two use a set of default values (that you can change) suitable for a normal installation, possibly including X. The last option lets you specify everything yourself.

      You will be presented with the current layout of the NetBSD disklabel, and given a chance to change it. For each partition, you can set the type, offset and size, block and fragment size, and the mount point. The type that NetBSD uses for normal file storage is called 4.2BSD. A swap partition has a special type called swap.

      Some partitions in the disklabel have a fixed purpose. Partition a is always the root partition, b is the swap partition, and c is the whole disk. Partitions e-h are available for other use. Traditionally, d is the partition mounted on the /usr directory, but this is historical practice, not a fixed value.

      You will then be asked to name your disk's disklabel. The default response is mydisk. For most purposes this will be OK. If you choose to name it something different, make sure the name is a single word and contains no special characters. You don't need to remember this name.


  8. Preparing your hard disk

    You are now at the point of no return. Nothing has been written to your disk yet, but if you confirm that you want to install NetBSD, your hard drive will be modified. If you are sure you want to proceed, enter yes at the prompt.

    The install program will now label your disk and make the file systems you specified. The filesystems will be initialized to contain NetBSD bootstrapping binaries and configuration files. You will see messages on your screen from the various NetBSD disk preparation tools that are running. There should be no errors in this section of the installation. If there are, restart from the beginning of the installation process. Otherwise, you can continue the installation program after pressing the return key.

  9. Getting the distribution sets.

    The NetBSD distribution consists of a number of sets, that come in the form of gzipped tarfiles. A few sets must be installed for a working system, others are optional. At this point of the installation, you will be presented with a menu which enables you to choose from one of the following methods of installing the sets. Some of these methods will first load the sets on your hard disk, others will extract the sets directly.

    For all these methods, the first step is making the sets available for extraction, and then do the actual installation. The sets can be made available in a few different ways. The following sections describe each of those methods. After reading the one about the method you will be using, you can continue to section 9

  10. Installation using ftp

    To be able to install using ftp, you first need to configure your network setup, if you haven't already at the start of the install procedure. sysinst will do this for you, asking you to provide some data, like IP number, hostname, etc. If you do not have name service set up for the machine that you are installing on, you can just press return in answer to these questions, and DNS will not be used.

    You will also be asked to specify the host that you want to transfer the sets from, the directory on that host, and the account name and password used to log into that host using ftp. If you did not set up DNS when answering the questions to configure networking, you will need to specify an IP number instead of a hostname for the ftp server.

    sysinst will proceed to transfer all the default set files from the remote site to your hard disk.

  11. Installation using NFS

    To be able to install using NFS, you first need to configure your network setup, if you haven't already at the start of the install procedure. sysinst will do this for you, asking you to provide some data, like IP number, hostname, etc. If you do not have name service set up for the machine that you are installing on, you can just press return in answer to these questions, and DNS will not be used.

    You will also be asked to specify the host that you want to transfer the sets from, and the directory on that host that the files are in. This directory should be mountable by the machine you are installing on, i.e. correctly exported to your machine.

    If you did not set up DNS when answering the questions to configure networking, you will need to specify an IP number instead of a hostname for the NFS server.

  12. Installation from CD-ROM

    When installing from a CD-ROM, you will be asked to specify the device name for your CD-ROM player (usually cd0), and the directory name on the CD-ROM where the distribution files are.

    sysinst will then check if the files are indeed available in the specified location, and proceed to the actual extraction of the sets.

  13. Installation from an unmounted filesystem

    In order to install from a local filesystem, you will need to specify the device that the filesystem resides on (for example rz1e) the type of the filesystem, and the directory on the specified filesystem where the sets are located. sysinst will then check if it can indeed access the sets at that location.

  14. Installation from a local directory

    This option assumes that you have already done some preparation yourself. The sets should be located in a directory on a filesystem that is already accessible. sysinst will ask you for the name of this directory.

  15. Extracting the distribution sets

    After the install sets containing the NetBSD distribution have been made available, you can either extract all the sets (a full installation), or only extract sets that you have selected. In the latter case you will be shown the currently selected sets, and given the opportunity to select the sets you want. Some sets always need to be installed (kern, base and etc) they will not be shown in this selection menu.

    Before extraction begins, you can elect to watch the files being extracted; the name of each file that is extracted will be shown. This can slow down the installation process considerably, especially on machines with slow graphics consoles or serial consoles.

    After all the files have been extracted, all the necessary device node files will be created. If you have already configured networking, you will be asked if you want to use this configuration for normal operation. If so, these values will be installed in the network configuration files.

  16. Finalizing your installation.

    Congratulations, you have successfully installed NetBSD1.4.2. You can now reboot the machine, and boot from harddisk.


Post installation steps

Once you've got the operating system running, there are a few things you need to do in order to bring the system into a propperly configured state, with the most important ones described below.

  1. Configuring /etc/rc.conf

    If you haven't done any configuration of /etc/rc.conf, the system will drop you into single user mode on first reboot with the message        /etc/rc.conf is not configured. Multiuser boot aborted.
    and with the root filesystem mounted read-write. When the system asks you to choose a shell, simply hit return to get to a prompt. If you are asked for a terminal type, respond with the correct terminal type as discussed in the Once you've booted the diskimage section. and hit return. At this point, you need to configure at least one file in the /etc directory. Change to the /etc directory and take a look at the /etc/rc.conf file. Modify it to your tastes, making sure that you set rc_configured=YES so that your changes will be enabled and a multi-user boot can proceed. If your /usr directory is on a separate partition and you do not know how to use 'ed' or 'ex', you will have to mount your /usr partition to gain access to 'vi'. Do the following:
           mount /usr
           export TERM=termtype
    If you have /var on a seperate partition, you need to repeat that step for it. After that, you can edit /etc/rc.conf with vi(1). When you have finished, type exit at the prompt to leave the single-user shell and continue with the multi-user boot.

    Other values that need to be set in /etc/rc.conf for a networked environment are hostname and possibly defaultroute, furthermore add an ifconfig_int for your interface <int>, along the lines of
           ifconfig_le0="inet 123.45.67.89 netmask 255.255.255.0"
    or, if you have myname.my.dom in /etc/hosts:
           ifconfig_le0="inet myname.my.dom netmask 255.255.255.0"
    To enable proper hostname resolution, you will also want to add an /etc/resolv.conf file or (if you are feeling a little more adventurous) run named(8). See resolv.conf(5) or named(8) for more information.

    Other files in /etc that are new to NetBSD 1.4 and may require modification or setting up include /etc/mailer.conf, /etc/nsswitch.conf and /etc/wscons.conf.

  2. Logging in

    After reboot, you can log in as root at the login prompt. There is no initial password, but if you're using the machine in a networked environment, you should create an account for yourself (see below) and protect it and the "root" account with good passwords.

  3. Adding accounts

    Use the vipw(8) command to add accounts to your system, do not edit /etc/passwd directly. See adduser(8) for more information on the process of how to add a new user to the system.

  4. The X Window System

    If you have installed the X window system, look at the files in /usr/X11R6/lib/X11/doc for information.

    Don't forget to add /usr/X11R6/bin to your path in your shell's dot file so that you have access to the X binaries.

  5. Installing 3rd party packages

    There is a lot of software freely available for Unix-based systems, almost all of which can run on NetBSD. Modifications are usually needed to when transferring programs between different Unix-like systems, so the NetBSD packages collection incorporates any such changes necessary to make that software run on NetBSD, and makes the installation (and deinstallation) of the software packages easy. There's also the option of building a package from source, in case there's no precompiled binary available.

    Precompiled binaries can be found at ftp://ftp.netbsd.org/pub/NetBSD/packages/ Package sources for compiling packages can be obtained by retrieving the file ftp://ftp.netbsd.org/pub/NetBSD/NetBSD-current/tar_files/pkgsrc.tar.gz and extracting it into /usr/pkgsrc. See /usr/pkgsrc/README then for more information.

  6. Misc

    • To adjust the system to your local timezone, point the /etc/localtime symlink to the appropriate file under /usr/share/zoneinfo.

    • Edit /etc/aliases to forward root mail to the right place (run newaliases(1) afterwards.)

    • The /etc/sendmail.cf file will almost definitely need to be adjusted; files aiding in this can be found in /usr/share/sendmail. See the README file there for more information.

    • Edit /etc/rc.local to run any local daemons you use.

    • Many of the /etc files are documented in section 5 of the manual; so just invoking
             man filename
      is likely to give you more information on these files.

Upgrading a previously-installed NetBSD System

The upgrade to NetBSD1.4.2 is a binary upgrade; it can be quite difficult to advance to a later version by recompiling from source due primarily to interdependencies in the various components.

To do the upgrade, you must install new bootblocks and boot off the install kernel as described in the Installing from an existing system section. You must also have at least the base and kern binary distribution sets available, so that you can upgrade with them, using one of the upgrade methods described above. Finally, you must have sufficient disk space available to install the new binaries. Since the old binaries are being overwritten in place, you only need space for the new binaries, which weren't previously on the system. If you have a few megabytes free on each of your root and /usr partitions, you should have enough space.

Since upgrading involves replacing the boot blocks on your NetBSD partition, the kernel, and most of the system binaries, it has the potential to cause data loss. You are strongly advised to back up any important data on your disk, whether on the NetBSD partition or on another operating system's partition, before beginning the upgrade process.

The upgrade procedure using the sysinst tool is similar to an installation, but without the hard disk partitioning. Another difference is that existing configuration files in /etc are backed up and merged with the new files. Getting the binary sets is done in the same manner as the installation procedure; refer to the installation part of the document for how to do this. Also, some sanity checks are done, i.e. filesystems are checked before unpacking the sets.

After a new kernel has been copied to your hard disk, your machine is a complete NetBSD1.4.2 system. However, that doesn't mean that you're finished with the upgrade process. You will probably want to update the set of device nodes you have in /dev. If you've changed the contents of /dev by hand, you will need to be careful about this, but if not, you can just cd into /dev, and run the command        sh MAKEDEV all

You must also deal with certain changes in the formats of some of the configuration files. The most notable change is that the options given to many of the file systems in /etc/fstab have changed, and some of the file systems have changed names. To find out what the new options are, it's suggested that you read the manual page for the file systems' mount commands, for example mount_nfs(8) for NFS.

Finally, you will want to delete old binaries that were part of the version of NetBSD that you upgraded from and have since been removed from the NetBSD distribution.

Compatibility Issues With Previous NetBSD Releases

Users upgrading from previous versions of NetBSD may wish to bear the following problems and compatibility issues in mind when upgrading to NetBSD1.4.2

Note
Only issues effecting an upgrade from NetBSD 1.3 or NetBSD 1.3.x are decribed here.

  • "machine" directory/link in "/usr/include"

    Description
    Some architecture may fail to install the comp set because the
           /usr/include/machine
    directory changed to a symbolic link in NetBSD 1.4.

    Fix
    If this happens, you can use the command
           # rm -r /usr/include/machine
    to remove the old directory and it contents and reinstall the comp set.

Using online NetBSD documentation

Documentation is available if you first install the manual distribution set. Traditionally, the ``man pages'' (documentation) are denoted by ``name(section)''. Some examples of this are

  • intro(1),
  • man(1),
  • apropros(1),
  • passwd(1), and
  • passwd(5).

The section numbers group the topics into several categories, but three are of primary interest: user commands are in section 1, file formats are in section 5, and administrative information is in section 8.

The man command is used to view the documentation on a topic, and is started by entering man[ section] topic. The brackets [] around the section should not be entered, but rather indicate that the section is optional. If you don't ask for a particular section, the topic with the lowest numbered section name will be displayed. For instance, after logging in, enter
       man passwd
to read the documentation for passwd(1). To view the documentation for passwd(5)m enter
       man 5 passwd
instead.

If you are unsure of what man page you are looking for, enter apropos subject-word

where subject-word is your topic of interest; a list of possibly related man pages will be displayed.

Administrivia

If you've got something to say, do so! We'd like your input. There are various mailing lists available via the mailing list server at majordomo@NetBSD.ORG. To get help on using the mailing list server, send mail to that address with an empty body, and it will reply with instructions.

There are various mailing lists set up to deal with comments and questions about this release. Please send comments to: netbsd-comments@NetBSD.ORG.

To report bugs, use the send-pr(1) command shipped with NetBSD, and fill in as much information about the problem as you can. Good bug reports include lots of details. Additionally, bug reports can be sent by mail to: netbsd-bugs@NetBSD.ORG.

Use of send-pr(1) is encouraged, however, because bugs reported with it are entered into the NetBSD bugs database, and thus can't slip through the cracks.

There are also port-specific mailing lists, to discuss aspects of each port of NetBSD. Use majordomo to find their addresses. If you're interested in doing a serious amount of work on a specific port, you probably should contact the "owner" of that port (listed below).

If you'd like to help with this effort, and have an idea as to how you could be useful, send us mail or subscribe to: netbsd-help@NetBSD.ORG.

As a favor, please avoid mailing huge documents or files to these mailing lists. Instead, put the material you would have sent up for FTP somewhere, then mail the appropriate list about it, or, if you'd rather not do that, mail the list saying you'll send the data to those who want it.

Thanks go to

  • The former members of UCB's Computer Systems Research Group, including (but not limited to):
    Keith Bostic
    Ralph Campbell
    Mike Karels
    Marshall Kirk McKusick
    

    for their ongoing work on BSD systems, support, and encouragement.

  • Also, our thanks go to:
    Mike Hibler
    Rick Macklem
    Jan-Simon Pendry
    Chris Torek
    

    for answering lots of questions, fixing bugs, and doing the various work they've done.

  • UC Berkeley's Experimental Computing Facility provided a home for sun-lamp in the past, people to look after it, and a sense of humor. Rob Robertson, too, has added his unique sense of humor to things, and for a long time provided the primary FTP site for NetBSD.

  • Vixie Enterprises for hosting the NetBSD FTP, WWW and SUP server.

  • Redback Networks, Inc. for hosting the NetBSD Mail server.

  • Without CVS, this project would be impossible to manage, so our hats go off to Brian Berliner, Jeff Polk, and the various other people who've had a hand in making CVS a useful tool.

  • Dave Burgess burgess@cynjut.infonet.net has been maintaining the 386BSD/NetBSD/FreeBSD FAQ for quite some time, and deserves to be recognized for it.

  • The following individuals and organiztions (each in alphabetical order) have made donations or loans of hardware and/or money, to support NetBSD development, and deserve credit for it:

    Steve Allen
    Jason Birnschein
    Mason Loring Bliss
    Jason Brazile
    Mark Brinicombe
    David Brownlee
    Simon Burge
    Dave Burgess
    Ralph Campbell
    Brian Carlstrom
    James Chacon
    Bill Coldwell
    Charles Conn
    Tom Coulter
    Charles D. Cranor
    Christopher G. Demetriou
    Scott Ellis
    Hubert Feyrer
    Castor Fu
    Greg Gingerich
    William Gnadt
    Michael Graff
    Guenther Grau
    Ross Harvey
    Charles M. Hannum
    Michael L. Hitch
    Kenneth Alan Hornstein
    Jordan K. Hubbard
    Soren Jorvang
    Scott Kaplan
    Noah M. Keiserman
    John Kohl
    Chris Legrow
    Ted Lemon
    Neil J. McRae
    Perry E. Metzger
    Herb Peyerl
    Mike Price
    Dave Rand
    Michael Richardson
    Heiko W. Rupp
    Brad Salai
    Chuck Silvers
    Thor Lancelot Simon
    Bill Sommerfeld
    Paul Southworth
    Ted Spradley
    Kimmo Suominen
    Jason R. Thorpe
    Steve Wadlow
    Krister Walfridsson
    Jim Wise
    Christos Zoulas
    

    AboveNet Communications, Inc.
    Advanced System Products, Inc.
    Avalon Computer Systems
    Bay Area Internet Solutions
    Brains Corporation, Japan
    Canada Connect Corporation
    Co-operative Research Centre for Enterprise Distributed Systems Technology
    Demon Internet, UK
    Digital Equipment Corporation
    Easynet, UK
    Free Hardware Foundation
    Innovation Development Enterprises of America
    Internet Software Consortium
    MS Macro System GmbH, Germany
    Numerical Aerospace Simulation Facility, NASA Ames Research Center
    Piermont Information Systems Inc.
    VMC Harald Frank, Germany
    Warped Communications, Inc.
    
    (If you're not on that list and should be, tell us! We probably were not able to get in touch with you, to verify that you wanted to be listed.)

  • Finally, we thank all of the people who've put sweat and tears into developing NetBSD since its inception in January, 1993. (Obviously, there are a lot more people who deserve thanks here. If you're one of them, and would like to mentioned, tell us!)

We are...

(in alphabetical order)


The NetBSD core group:
Alistair Crooksagc@NetBSD.ORG
Jun-ichiro itojun Haginoitojun@NetBSD.ORG
Frank van der Lindenfvdl@NetBSD.ORG
Luke Mewburnlukem@NetBSD.ORG
Christos Zoulaschristos@NetBSD.ORG

The portmasters (and their ports):
Mark Brinicombemark@NetBSD.ORG arm32
Jeremy Cooperjeremy@NetBSD.ORG sun3x
Ross Harveyross@NetBSD.ORG alpha
Ignatios Souvatzisis@NetBSD.ORG amiga
Jun-ichiro itojun Haginoitojun@NetBSD.ORG sh3
Eduardo Horvatheeh@NetBSD.ORG sparc64
Paul Kranenburgpk@NetBSD.ORG sparc
Anders Magnussonragge@NetBSD.ORG vax
Tsubai Masanaritsubai@NetBSD.ORG macppc
Tsubai Masanaritsubai@NetBSD.ORG newsmips
Minoura Makotominoura@NetBSD.ORG x68k
Phil Nelsonphil@NetBSD.ORG pc532
Scott Reynoldsscottr@NetBSD.ORG mac68k
Darrin Jewelldbj@NetBSD.ORG next68k
Kazuki Sakamotosakamoto@NetBSD.ORG bebox
Wolfgang Solfrankws@NetBSD.ORG ofppc
Jonathan Stonejonathan@NetBSD.ORG pmax
Shin Takemuratakemura@NetBSD.ORG hpcmips
Jason Thorpethorpej@NetBSD.ORG hp300
Frank van der Lindenfvdl@NetBSD.ORG i386
Leo Weppelmanleo@NetBSD.ORG atari
Nathan Williamsnathanw@NetBSD.ORG sun3
Steve Woodfordscw@NetBSD.ORG mvme68k

The NetBSD 1.4.2 Release Engineering team:
Chris G. Demetrioucgd@NetBSD.ORG
Havard Eidneshe@NetBSD.ORG
Ted Lemonmellon@NetBSD.ORG
Perry Metzgerperry@NetBSD.ORG
Curt Sampsoncjs@NetBSD.ORG

Developers and other contributors:
Steve Allenwormey@NetBSD.ORG
Julian Assangeproff@NetBSD.ORG
Lennart Augustssonaugustss@NetBSD.ORG
Christoph Badurabad@NetBSD.ORG
Robert V. Baronrvb@NetBSD.ORG
Erik Berlscyber@NetBSD.ORG
John Birrelljb@NetBSD.ORG
Mason Loring Blissmason@NetBSD.ORG
Manuel Bouyerbouyer@NetBSD.ORG
John Brezakbrezak@NetBSD.ORG
Allen Briggsbriggs@NetBSD.ORG
Aaron Brownabrown@NetBSD.ORG
David Brownleeabs@NetBSD.ORG
Frederick Bruckmanfredb@NetBSD.ORG
Jon Bullerjonb@NetBSD.ORG
Simon Burgesimonb@NetBSD.ORG
Dave Burgessburgess@cynjut.infonet.net
Robert Byrnesbyrnes@NetBSD.org
D'Arcy J.M. Caindarcy@NetBSD.ORG
Dave Carrelcarrel@NetBSD.ORG
Bill Coldwellbillc@NetBSD.ORG
Julian Colemanjdc@NetBSD.ORG
Chuck Cranorchuck@NetBSD.ORG
Aidan Cullyaidan@NetBSD.ORG
Johan Danielssonjoda@NetBSD.ORG
Matt DeBergalisdeberg@NetBSD.ORG
Rob Dekerdeker@NetBSD.ORG
Chris G. Demetrioucgd@NetBSD.ORG
Jaromir Dolecekjdolecek@NetBSD.ORG
Andy Doranad@NetBSD.ORG
Roland Dowdeswellelric@NetBSD.ORG
Matthias Drochnerdrochner@NetBSD.ORG
Jun Ebiharajun@NetBSD.ORG
Havard Eidneshe@NetBSD.ORG
Enami Tsugutomoenami@NetBSD.ORG
Bernd Ernestiveego@NetBSD.ORG
Erik Fairfair@NetBSD.ORG
Hubert Feyrerhubertf@NetBSD.ORG
Thorsten Frueauffrueauf@NetBSD.ORG
Castor Fucastor@NetBSD.ORG
Brian R. Gaekebrg@dgate.org
Thomas Gernerthomas@NetBSD.ORG
Simon J. Gerratysjg@NetBSD.ORG
Justin Gibbsgibbs@NetBSD.ORG
Adam Glassglass@NetBSD.ORG
Michael Graffexplorer@NetBSD.ORG
Brian C. Graysonbgrayson@NetBSD.ORG
Brad Granthamgrantham@tenon.com
Matthew Greenmrg@NetBSD.ORG
Juergen Hannken-Illjeshannken@NetBSD.ORG
Charles M. Hannummycroft@NetBSD.ORG
Eric Haszlakiewiczerh@NetBSD.ORG
HAYAKAWA Koichihaya@NetBSD.ORG
Rene Hexelrh@NetBSD.ORG
Michael L. Hitchmhitch@NetBSD.ORG
Christian E. Hoppschopps@NetBSD.ORG
Ken Hornsteinkenh@NetBSD.ORG
Marc Horowitzmarc@NetBSD.ORG
Dean Huxleydean@netbsd.org
ITOH Yasufumiitohy@NetBSD.ORG
Matthew Jacobmjacob@NetBSD.ORG
Lonhyn T. Jasinskyjlonhyn@NetBSD.ORG
Chris Jonescjones@NetBSD.ORG
Soren Jorvangsoren@NetBSD.ORG
Antti Kanteepooka@NetBSD.ORG
Lawrence Kestelootkesteloo@cs.unc.edu
Thomas Klausnerwiz@NetBSD.ORG
Klaus Kleinkleink@NetBSD.ORG
John Kohljtk@NetBSD.ORG
Kevin Laheykml@NetBSD.ORG
Johnny C. Lamjlam@NetBSD.ORG
Martin J. Laubachmjl@NetBSD.ORG
Ted Lemonmellon@NetBSD.ORG
Joel Lindholmjoel@NetBSD.ORG
Mike Longmikel@NetBSD.ORG
Warner Loshimp@NetBSD.ORG
Brett Lymnblymn@NetBSD.ORG
Paul Mackerraspaulus@NetBSD.ORG
Dan McMahilldmcmahill@NetBSD.ORG
Neil J. McRaeneil@NetBSD.ORG
Perry Metzgerperry@NetBSD.ORG
der Mousemouse@NetBSD.ORG
Joseph Myersjsm@NetBSD.ORG
Ken Nakatakenn@NetBSD.ORG
Bob Nestorrnestor@NetBSD.ORG
Tohru Nishimuranisimura@NetBSD.ORG
Masaru Okioki@NetBSD.ORG
Greg Osteroster@NetBSD.ORG
Herb Peyerlhpeyerl@NetBSD.ORG
Matthias Pfallermatthias@NetBSD.ORG
Dante Profetadante@NetBSD.ORG
Chris Provenzanoproven@NetBSD.ORG
Waldi Ravenswaldi@moacs.indiv.nl.net
Darren Reeddarrenr@NetBSD.ORG
Michael Richardsonmcr@NetBSD.ORG
Tim Rightnourgarbled@NetBSD.ORG
Gordon Rossgwr@NetBSD.ORG
Heiko W. Rupphwr@NetBSD.ORG
SAITOH Masanobumsaitoh@NetBSD.ORG
Curt Sampsoncjs@NetBSD.ORG
Wilfredo Sanchezwsanchez@NetBSD.ORG
Ty Sarnatsarna@NetBSD.ORG
SATO Kazumisato@NetBSD.ORG
Matthias Schelertron@NetBSD.ORG
Karl Schilke (rAT)rat@NetBSD.ORG
Konrad Schroderperseant@NetBSD.ORG
Tim Shepardshep@NetBSD.ORG
Takao Shinoharashin@NetBSD.ORG
Chuck Silverschs@NetBSD.ORG
Thor Lancelot Simontls@NetBSD.ORG
Noriyuki Sodasoda@NetBSD.ORG
Bill Sommerfeldsommerfeld@NetBSD.ORG
Bill Studenmundwrstuden@NetBSD.ORG
Kevin Sullivansullivan@NetBSD.ORG
Kimmo Suominenkim@NetBSD.ORG
Matt Thomasmatt@NetBSD.ORG
Christoph Toshoktoshok@NetBSD.ORG
Izumi Tsutsuitsutsui@NetBSD.ORG
UCHIYAMA Yasushiuch@NetBSD.ORG
Todd Vierlingtv@NetBSD.ORG
Aymeric Vincentaymeric@NetBSD.ORG
Paul Vixievixie@NetBSD.ORG
Krister Walfridssonkristerw@NetBSD.ORG
Lex Wennmacherwennmach@NetBSD.ORG
Assar Westerlundassar@NetBSD.ORG
Rob Windsorwindsor@NetBSD.ORG
Dan Winshipdanw@NetBSD.ORG
Jim Wisejwise@NetBSD.ORG
Colin Woodender@NetBSD.ORG

Legal Mumbo-Jumbo

The following notices are required to satisfy the license terms of the software that we have mentioned in this document:

This product includes software developed by the University of California, Berkeley and its contributors.

This product includes software developed by the Computer Systems Engineering Group at Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory.

This product includes software developed by the NetBSD Foundation, Inc. and its contributors.

This product includes software developed by Adam Glass and Charles Hannum.

This product includes software developed by Adam Glass.

This product includes software developed by Berkeley Software Design, Inc.

This product includes software developed by Charles D. Cranor and Washington University.

This product includes software developed by Charles D. Cranor.

This product includes software developed by Charles Hannum, by the University of Vermont and State Agricultural College and Garrett A. Wollman, by William F. Jolitz, and by the University of California, Berkeley, Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, and its contributors.

This product includes software developed by Charles Hannum.

This product includes software developed by Charles M. Hannum.

This product includes software developed by Chris Provenzano.

This product includes software developed by Christian E. Hopps.

This product includes software developed by Christopher G. Demetriou for the NetBSD Project.

This product includes software developed by Christopher G. Demetriou.

This product includes software developed by Christos Zoulas.

This product includes software developed by David Jones and Gordon Ross.

This product includes software developed by Dean Huxley.

This product includes software developed by Eric S. Hvozda.

This product includes software developed by Ezra Story.

This product includes software developed by Gordon Ross.

This product includes software developed by Gordon W. Ross and Leo Weppelman.

This product includes software developed by Gordon W. Ross.

This product includes software developed by Herb Peyerl.

This product includes software developed by Ian W. Dall.

This product includes software developed by Ignatios Souvatzis for the NetBSD Project.

This product includes software developed by Jason R. Thorpe for And Communications, http://www.and.com/.

This product includes software developed by Joachim Koenig-Baltes.

This product includes software developed by Jochen Pohl for The NetBSD Project.

This product includes software developed by John Polstra.

This product includes software developed by Jonathan Stone and Jason R. Thorpe for the NetBSD Project.

This product includes software developed by Jonathan Stone for the NetBSD Project.

This product includes software developed by Jonathan Stone.

This product includes software developed by Julian Highfield.

This product includes software developed by Kenneth Stailey.

This product includes software developed by Leo Weppelman.

This product includes software developed by Lloyd Parkes.

This product includes software developed by Mark Brinicombe.

This product includes software developed by Markus Wild.

This product includes software developed by Martin Husemann and Wolfgang Solfrank.

This product includes software developed by Mats O Jansson and Charles D. Cranor.

This product includes software developed by Mats O Jansson.

This product includes software developed by Matthias Pfaller.

This product includes software developed by Paul Kranenburg.

This product includes software developed by Paul Mackerras.

This product includes software developed by Peter Galbavy.

This product includes software developed by Philip A. Nelson.

This product includes software developed by Rodney W. Grimes.

This product includes software developed by Scott Bartram.

This product includes software developed by SigmaSoft, Th. Lockert.

This product includes software developed by Terrence R. Lambert.

This product includes software developed by Theo de Raadt and John Brezak.

This product includes software developed by Theo de Raadt.

This product includes software developed by TooLs GmbH.

This product includes software developed by Winning Strategies, Inc.

This product includes software developed by the Center for Software Science at the University of Utah.

This product includes software developed by the University of Calgary Department of Computer Science and its contributors.

This product includes software developed by the University of Vermont and State Agricultural College and Garrett A. Wollman.

This product includes software developed for the FreeBSD project.

This product includes software developed for the Internet Software Consortium by Ted Lemon.

This product includes software developed for the NetBSD Project by Frank van der Linden.

This product includes software developed for the NetBSD Project by Jason R. Thorpe.

This product includes software developed for the NetBSD Project by John M. Vinopal.

This product includes software developed for the NetBSD Project by Matthias Drochner.

This product includes software developed for the NetBSD Project by Matthieu Herrb.

This product includes software developed for the NetBSD Project by Perry E. Metzger.

This product includes software developed for the NetBSD Project by Piermont Information Systems Inc.

This product includes software developed for the NetBSD Project by Ted Lemon.

This product includes software developed by LAN Media Corporation and its contributors.

This product includes software developed by Michael Graff for the NetBSD Project.

This product includes software developed by Niklas Hallqvist, C Stone and Job de Haas.

This product includes software developed by Jonathan Stone.

This product includes software developed by Ted Lemon.

This product includes software contributed to Berkeley by Ralph Campbell.

This product includes software contributed to Berkeley by Ralph Campbell and Rick Macklem.

This product includes software contributed to Berkeley by Van Jacobson of Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory and Ralph Campbell.

This product includes software developed by Christopher G. Demetriou.

This product includes software developed by Chris G. Demetriou, and Jonathan Stone.

This product includes software developed by Keith Bostic, Chris G. Demetriou, and Jonathan Stone.

This product includes software developed by Jonathan Stone for the NetBSD Project.

This product includes software developed by the University of California, Berkeley and its contributors.

This product includes software developed by the University of California, Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory.

This product includes software developed by the NetBSD Foundation, Inc. and its contributors.

Some files have the following copyright:

Mach Operating System
Copyright (c) 1991,1990,1989 Carnegie Mellon University
All Rights Reserved.

Permission to use, copy, modify and distribute this software and its documentation is hereby granted, provided that both the copyright notice and this permission notice appear in all copies of the software, derivative works or modified versions, and any portions thereof, and that both notices appear in supporting documentation.

CARNEGIE MELLON ALLOWS FREE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE IN ITS CONDITION. CARNEGIE MELLON DISCLAIMS ANY LIABILITY OF ANY KIND FOR ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER RESULTING FROM THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE.

Carnegie Mellon requests users of this software to return to

Software Distribution Coordinator or Software.Distribution@CS.CMU.EDU
School of Computer Science
Carnegie Mellon University
Pittsburgh PA 15213-3890

any improvements or extensions that they make and grant Carnegie the rights to redistribute these changes.

Some files have the following copyright:

Copyright (c) 1994, 1995 Carnegie-Mellon University.
All rights reserved.

Author: Chris G. Demetriou

Permission to use, copy, modify and distribute this software and its documentation is hereby granted, provided that both the copyright notice and this permission notice appear in all copies of the software, derivative works or modified versions, and any portions thereof, and that both notices appear in supporting documentation.

CARNEGIE MELLON ALLOWS FREE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE IN ITS "AS IS" CONDITION. CARNEGIE MELLON DISCLAIMS ANY LIABILITY OF ANY KIND FOR ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER RESULTING FROM THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE.

Carnegie Mellon requests users of this software to return to

Software Distribution Coordinator or Software.Distribution@CS.CMU.EDU
School of Computer Science
Carnegie Mellon University
Pittsburgh PA 15213-3890

any improvements or extensions that they make and grant Carnegie the rights to redistribute these changes.

Some files have the following copyright:

Copyright (C) 1989 Digital Equipment Corporation.
Permission to use, copy, modify, and distribute this software and its documentation for any purpose and without fee is hereby granted, provided that the above copyright notice appears in all copies. Digital Equipment Corporation makes no representations about the suitability of this software for any purpose. It is provided "as is" without express or implied warranty.

Some files have the following copyright:

Copyright 1987 by Digital Equipment Corporation, Maynard, Massachusetts, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts.

All Rights Reserved

Permission to use, copy, modify, and distribute this software and its documentation for any purpose and without fee is hereby granted, provided that the above copyright notice appear in all copies and that both that copyright notice and this permission notice appear in supporting documentation, and that the names of Digital or MIT not be used in advertising or publicity pertaining to distribution of the software without specific, written prior permission.

DIGITAL DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES WITH REGARD TO THIS SOFTWARE, INCLUDING ALL IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS, IN NO EVENT SHALL DIGITAL BE LIABLE FOR ANY SPECIAL, INDIRECT OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OR ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER RESULTING FROM LOSS OF USE, DATA OR PROFITS, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, NEGLIGENCE OR OTHER TORTIOUS ACTION, ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE USE OR PERFORMANCE OF THIS SOFTWARE.

Some files have the following copyright:

Copyright 1996 The Board of Trustees of The Leland Stanford Junior University. All Rights Reserved.

Permission to use, copy, modify, and distribute this software and its documentation for any purpose and without fee is hereby granted, provided that the above copyright notice appear in all copies. Stanford University makes no representations about the suitability of this software for any purpose. It is provided "as is" without express or implied warranty.